Hotels near Glasgow, United Kingdom

A little about Glasgow...

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Glasgow is the most populous unitary authority area. It is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands. A person from Glasgow is known as a Glaswegian. Glaswegian is also the name of the local dialect. Glasgow grew from the medieval Bishopric of Glasgow and the later establishment of the University of Glasgow, which contributed to the Scottish Enlightenment.

Universities: Glasgow is also a major education centre with four universities within 10 miles (16 km) of the city centre: University of Glasgow, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow Caledonian University, and University of Paisley. There are also teacher training colleges, teaching hospitals such as the Glasgow Royal Infirmary, the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, Glasgow School of Art, and ten other further education colleges. The University of Glasgow is a member of the Russell Group of elite British universities and is a founding member of the organisation Universitas 21, an international grouping of universities dedicated to setting world-wide standards for higher education.

Transport: Glasgow has the most extensive urban rail network in the UK outside of London with rail services travelling to a large part of the West of Scotland. All trains running within Scotland, including the local Glasgow trains, are operated by First ScotRail, who own the franchise as determined by the Scottish Executive. Central Station and Queen Street Station are the two main railway terminals, providing train services to the rest of the United Kingdom.

The city has many amenities for a wide range of cultural activities, from curling to opera, ballet and from football to art appreciation; it also has a large selection of museums that include those devoted to transport, religion, and modern art.

The city's principal library, the Mitchell Library, has grown into one of Europe's largest public reference libraries, currently housing some 1.3 million books, an extensive collection of newspapers and thousands of photographs and maps.

Most of Scotland's national arts organisations are based in Glasgow, including Scottish Opera, Scottish Ballet, The National Theatre of Scotland, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Scottish Youth Theatre.

Glasgow's main festivals are Celtic Connections,(founded 1993), takes place in January. The Jazz Festival (founded 1989) held in June, the West End Festival (founded 1996) also held in June, Merchant City Festival (founded 2002) takes place in September, and Glasgay! (arts festival which is one of the biggest gay and lesbian multi-arts festivals in Europe)(founded 1997) and happens in November.

Glasgow also hosts the annual World Pipe Band Championships in August on Glasgow Green, with over 8,000 musicians.

Glasgow has many live music pubs, clubs and venues. Some of the city's main venues include the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, the SECC and King Tut's Wah Wah Hut (where Oasis were spotted and signed by Glaswegian record mogul Alan McGee) and the Barrowland, a historic ballroom, converted into a live music venue. More recent mid-sized venues include ABC and the Carling Academy, which play host to a similar range of acts.

Glasgow is also home to a thriving electronic music scene, with a particularly strong reputation for techno and house music. Venues like the Arches, the Sub Club and record labels such as Soma and Chemikal Underground have supported this strong underground movement for the past two decades in the city.

In recent years, the success of bands such as Franz Ferdinand, Belle & Sebastian and Mogwai has significantly boosted the profile of the Glasgow music scene, prompting Time Magazine to liken Glasgow to Detroit during its 1960s Motown heyday.